Sermon VI - Suiting Our Duties to the God We are Worshipping
withal, much good may do them, but the Lord hath shown me another manner of communion which my soul can have with Himself in which it hath sweet satisfaction. And thus, you have had seven particulars for the sanctifying of the Name of God in holy duties.
Sermon VI Suiting Our Duties to the God We are Worshipping
LEVITICUS 10:3
I will be sanctified in them that come nigh Me.
4 Again, as natural conscience doth give no strength to do the duty, so it makes not the duty to be strong to the soul; that is thus, there's no strength got by the duty, they are not by one duty prepared for another, "But the way of the Lord is strength to the upright," that is, when a gracious heart is in the way of God's worship, it finds the very duty of the worship of God to be strength to it, and so it fits it for another duty.
5 Further, a natural conscience limits itself and is bounded, that is, so much as will serve the turn for its own peace and quiet, so much it will do and no more. But when one is acted by the Spirit of God, one is enlarged without any limits at all, not bounded to one's own peace, for the more peace a gracious heart hath in duty, the more it is enlarged in duty. Now, a natural conscience, that puts to duty and will act you when you want peace, when you are in trouble and fear; but when you are not in trouble and fear, then it puts not on the heart to performance of duty; but the Spirit of God puts on the soul to duty, when there is most peace and comfort.
6 A little will serve the turn to satisfy a natural conscience, so be it they perform the duty it is enough; but one that is acted by the Spirit of God in duty must meet with much of God or else he is not satisfied; he goes mourning in the daytime if he hath not met with much of God in the morning in the performance of duty. Thus, you see there's much difference between the actings of natural parts and conscience in duty, and the acting of the Spirit of God.
There be only now two things more for the sanctifying of God's Name in duty, and then we are to come to show how we should sanctify
God's Name in duty in reference to the several attributes of God. But first for those two heads further.
7 The seventh thing is this, when you come to perform holy duties, if you would sanctify God's Name, you must consecrate yourselves to God; there must be a resignation of soul and body, estate, liberty, name, and all you are, have, or can do unto God. This is to sanctify
God's Name, the consecration of yourselves to God. And the professing of this in the performance of duty when you are to pray were a very good thing, actually to profess yourselves to be God's, to profess that you do give up all that you are, have, or can do to God:
"Lord, I am Thy servant, take all faculties of soul and members of body, and improve all, lay out all to Thine own praise to the uttermost, to bring glory to Thy great Name." If every time you came to God in prayer you did this, this were to sanctify yourselves to God.
I spoke before of a sanctified heart, but now this is in a profession of yourselves to God; do it secretly at least in your own thoughts; if you do not every time express it in words, yet in your own thoughts do it; devote yourselves to God every day. Of admirable use it would be if every day when men and women worship God, either in their closets or families, they did professedly devote and consecrate themselves to God. And so likewise, every time they came to hear the Word, or to receive sacraments, God would account His Name to be sanctified in such a work as this is.
8 Lastly, that that must make all up, and without which all the other is nothing, it is that you must tender up all your worship in the name of Jesus Christ; let a man or woman worship God never so well, yet when they have done all, if they do not tender it up in the Name of Jesus Christ, God will not account His Name to be sanctified. Thou must by faith look upon Jesus Christ as the glorious Mediator that is come into the world, by whom thou hast access unto the Father. And act thy faith upon Christ, and give up thy duties into His hand, as the hand of a Mediator to be tendered up to the Father by Him; though thou hast labored what thou canst to perform duty as well as thou art able, yet thou must not think to tender it up by thine own hand unto
God; but thou must tender it up to the Father by the hand of Jesus Christ the Mediator, and so thou shalt sanctify the Name of God in holy duties.
We read in Lev. 16:13 that when Aaron was to tender up the incense, he was to "put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of the incense may cover the Mercy seat that is upon the testimony, that he die not." Mark, it is as much as his life is worth, whether he doth it or doth it not. Now incense, it is in the New Testament called prayer, and so in the Old Testament too, it was a kind of emblem of prayer. The offering up of our prayers is the offering up of incense to God, and the Mercy seat it was a type of Jesus Christ. Now the incense should cover the Mercy seat; so, our prayers must go up to Jesus Christ, must be upon Him, and so must be accepted by the Father. And as we read in Judges 13:20 when Manoah offered a sacrifice, the text saith that, "the Angel of the Lord ascended in the flame." This Angel of God here was Jesus Christ, as we might easily from this Scripture make it out, and He ascends up in the flame from the Altar. Now though we do not offer such kind of sacrifices with fire and incense as they did in the time of the Law, yet when we are offering up of our incense, there must be a flame of fervency and zeal, but that is not enough. Together with the flame of the Altar, the Angel of God, Jesus Christ, the great Angel of the New Covenant (for Angel signifies nothing but "Messenger") the great Messenger that is come into the world about that great errand of His, to reconcile the
world to Himself, He must ascend up in the flame, and so God will account His Name to be sanctified; the name of God is not sanctified but through Jesus Christ.
The acting of our faith upon Christ as mediator is a special ingredient to the sanctifying of God's Name in holy duties; as you know, the Scripture saith that the Altar doth sanctify the gift offered upon the altar; Jesus Christ is the Altar upon whom all our spiritual sacrifices are to be offered, and this Altar doth sanctify the gift that is offered upon it, let never so great a gift be offered upon any other Altar, it was not accounted holy nor accepted; so let men by their natural strength, or power that they have, offer up the most glorious and speciousest service to God. It is not accepted unless it be offered up upon the Altar Jesus Christ. We have an Altar now, (not the Communion Table) but Jesus Christ Himself is our Altar upon whom we are to offer all our sacrifices, and this Altar must sanctify the gift; we can never have our gift sanctified, no, nor God's Name sanctified in this gift except it be offered upon this Altar, and our faith acted upon Jesus Christ.
People little think of this, but of other things, viz. That when we worship God, we should worship Him with fear, and reverence, and with humility, and with strength of intention, such kind of things every one that hath any enlightening of conscience will think of at some time or other; but people do least think of this, which is the greatest ingredient of all that is required in the sanctifying of God's
Name in holy duties, that is, to come and tender up all to the Father in the Name of Jesus Christ. How many men and women that have been professors of religion twenty or thirty years, and yet not acquainted with this great mastery of godliness, to tender up all to God in the Name of His Son. This is that that upon divers occasions I have spoken unto and am willing upon every occasion as I meet with it to speak of, because it is a principal part of the great mystery of the Gospel, without which all our duties are rejected of God and cast away. Now then put all these nine things together and see by them
what we ought to do that we may sanctify the Name of God in holy duties.
But there is something further to be spoken that may help you to sanctify God's Name in holy duties, and that is, several workings of heart suitable to the several attributes of God, for that is to sanctify
God's Name, to have the duty to be such as is some way suitable to such a God as we are now worshipping. Now then, let us consider what the Scripture saith of God, and then let us see what suitable dispositions we should have in us unto those things that the Scripture saith of God.
1 First, you know the Scripture saith that God is a Spirit, in John 4:24. Then presently Christ saith that, "He that worships Him must worship Him in Spirit." That is, there must be a suitableness in our worship to what God is: Is God a Spirit? Then all that worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and Truth. That is, thus when I am to go to worship God, I must consider of Him as He is an infinite and glorious Spirit; well then, surely bodily worship is not sufficient for me. Though I do kneel down in prayer or do come and present my body to hear the Word, or my body to receive the sacrament, this is not to worship God as a Spirit. If indeed that our God were as the heathens, that were corporeal, then it were another matter; then bodily worship would serve the turn, but God being a Spirit, He must have spiritual worship. Therefore, "My soul and all that is within me magnify His name," saith David, my soul magnify His name, not my lips only, but my soul.
The Apostle, in 1 Tim. 4:8, saith that bodily exercise profits little; it is no great matter for the body, God looks but very little at bodily exercise; but it is godliness that is profitable, it is the work of the Spirit. When we come to pray, we must pray in the Spirit, that is, we must pray with our souls, we must pour forth our souls before God.
And when we come to hear, our hearts must not go after our covetousness, we must set our hearts to what we hear, we must hear with our hearts as well as with our ears, our souls must be at work in
hearing of the Word. When you hear, it is not enough for you to come and sit in a pew and have the sound of a man's voice in your ears, but your souls must be at work.
And so, when you come to receive the sacrament, your souls must feed upon Jesus Christ. Bodily worship without soul-worship is nothing, but soul-worship may be accepted without bodily worship; therefore, it is the soul that God doth principally look at in holy duties. If you be not able to worship God in your bodies, you may worship Him in your souls, and God regards that bodily exercise in holy duties is little worth, somewhat it may be worth, I confess sometime bodily exercise may further the soul, as a reverend carriage of the body and the like, but it is nothing in comparison, the great work is the work of the soul, for God is a Spirit and must be worshipped in Spirit. And God is said to be a Spirit not only in that He is not of so thick a capital substance, but it notes the simplicity of God, He is without any composition, whatsoever is in God is God
Himself, He is absolutely one, there are not divers things in God.
Now then, those that come to worship Him must worship Him in Spirit and in truth, that is, there must not be a heart and a heart, there must not be a compounded heart, but you must bring simple hearts before God, without any composition of drift in yourselves, and of any kind of falseness, but in the simplicity of your hearts you must come to worship God, and thus you shall worship Him with such worship as is some way suitable to Him as He is a Spirit.
2 Further consider God as He is an eternal God; what suitable disposition doth this require of me when I am to look upon God as an eternal being; it requires this only, that therefore thy heart must be taken off from all temporal good things, and set upon that eternal good, thou mayest indeed desire these outward good things but in order to thy eternal good.
Then further, thou art worshipping an eternal God; hence then whatsoever sin thou doest confess although committed twenty or forty years ago, thou must look upon it as if it were now presently
committed and be humbled as much before the Lord as if it were now committed at this present. You will say, why so? Because God is an eternal God? Yes, for if I understand God's eternity, I know that there is no succession in God's being, therefore the sins that I committed in my youth, if I come to confess them, they are before God as if they were now a doing in regard of time; and therefore I must (as much as I can) look so upon them, and be humbled for them as if they were sins lately committed. Many people are troubled for their sins the very day after they commit them, but a little time wears off their trouble; but if you did consider that you had to deal with an eternal God, then you would look upon your sins, though a long time since committed, as if they were now done.
Likewise, there will be this required from the consideration of God's eternity, you must come with such a disposition of heart as not to think much, though what you desired be deferred and not granted in your time when you would have it. For if there be no time that alters with God, but a thousand years are with God as one day, then that that we account long before it's done, it is nothing with God; and therefore, we must have our hearts so work towards God as towards an eternal God, as one with whom there is no alteration of time at all, with whom there is no succession of time. If we come to a man and seek anything of him, if he doth not answer us presently, we will think that he will forget it, and other things will come into his mind; but when we come to worship God, we must look upon Him as an eternal being, and that time alters nothing with Him. Thus, understanding God in a right way will much help us in His worship, and so to sanctify His Name. We cannot sanctify God's Name without knowing His Name, without having serious thoughts about His
Name, and getting our hearts to work accordingly.
3 Thirdly, look upon God when you come to worship Him in His incomprehensible being, that is, as a God that fills all places; His being is as real in the room that we are praying in, the place that we are meeting in, as it is in heaven. Now then, when we come to worship Him we must consider that that infinite glorious being
stands before us, looks upon us, is at our elbow; and therefore, especially when you worship in secret consider this, it is good to consider it when you are with others, but especially I say consider it when you are in secret, and know that when you are most private you have one that looks on you and takes notice of you, who is more than if you had ten hundred thousand witnesses standing by you and looking upon you. For it is the Lord that stands by you, and sees your behavior, sees what you do in your worshipping of Him. Take heed therefore that there be nothing done by you that is unbeseeming the presence of such a God as the Lord is. Suppose that some of you were praying, and there were some godly able Minister stood near you, it would be some means to stir up your hearts to mind what you did; but now the Lord He is not in the next room only, but in the same room and stands by you. Let there be nothing done therefore unbeseeming the presence of that infinite holy God that stands by you. And hold this truth forth, the Lord is present with me, I acknowledge it, and I own it, and therefore I carry myself thus, and all because I would witness to angels and men that I do acknowledge that the Lord is present with me in this duty.
4 Fourthly, consider God is an unchangeable God, immutable. That is another attribute of God, He is unchangeable.
First, therefore our hearts must be taken off from these mutable things and set upon God as that unchangeable good.
Secondly, we must be humbled for our fickleness, and unconstantness; there is no shadow of change in God, and there is no shadow of constancy in us.
Thirdly, when we come into the presence of a God who is unchangeable, then we should look upon God as being the same now that ever He was heretofore. He hath as much displeasure against sin now as ever He had. And that God that hath done such great things for His Church in former times is the same God to do good to His people as ever He was. And make use of this: when you read the
Word and there find how God hath made Himself appear to be glorious for His people and now every time I am to worship God, I should think that I am to deal with God that is the same that ever He was, as merciful, and gracious, and just, and powerful as ever He was, and so my heart is to work towards Him.
5 Fifthly, when I am to worship God, I am to look upon Him as the living God, as that God that hath life in Himself, and gives life unto
His creatures.
Then what suitable behavior doth become me? I must come before His presence with fear; "It is a fearful thing to fall into His hands that is the living God"; that hath my life under His feet, He hath the absolute dispose of my present and eternal condition, He gave me my life, He hath preserved my life, and so may take it away when He pleases, and bring death, eternal death unto me. These things may marvelously help your meditation when you are to come before Him, you who are barren in your meditations, go over the attributes of God thus, and consider what you may be able to draw from thence.
God, He is the living God. What behavior then doth beseem me towards this living God? Oh, let me be afraid least my soul depart from the living God. Let me bring a living service to Him, I must not bring a dead heart. Let me take heed how I come before the living
God with a dead heart, and with a dead service, to sacrifice that that is dead before it comes, it's like a carrion that lies dead in the ditch.
Oh, let us be humbled for our dead hearts, and dead sacrifices; it is a living God that I am worshipping, and therefore I must pray, "Lord, turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken my heart in Thy Law," Psalm 119: 37. Remember when thou comest to worship that thou come with a quickened heart, for thou hast to deal with the living God. A man or woman that is of an active spirit cannot endure a dull and heavy servant in the family; but the Lord is a pure act, and nothing else but act, and therefore He doth expect that all His people should have quick active and lively spirits.
6 When you come to worship God, you are to look upon Him as Almighty. And so are first to fear His great power when you come before Him. And secondly, then you are not to be discouraged by any difficulties.
I come to seek for some great thing, and I come to seek to a great God that hath all power in heaven and earth, and infinitely more power than there is in all creatures in heaven and earth; I am praying to a God that can create peace, create help. My condition cannot be so desperate, but this infinite Almighty God is able to help me. Let me make Him the object of my faith as He is so infinitely Almighty.
What a full object of faith is this God that hath all power in Him? Let me therefore come to Him as a strong tower; "Run to the name of God as a strong tower," that can help in all straights whatsoever.
There would be much drawing forth of our faith if we could present that Lord before us as an infinite Almighty God. When we see outward helps and means near at hand, then we can believe that we may have some succor from Him, but when all outward helps and means fail then we are discouraged, we do not sanctify God's Name, but we rather take this Name of God in vain, when as our hearts are discouraged with any difficulties. Now the Lord expects that all His children that come to worship Him should worship Him as the Almighty God, and so have their hearts working towards Him. There would be mighty workings of Spirit towards God if we saw Him by the eye of faith as well as reason.
7 Look upon God as an omniscient God, as a God infinitely understanding all things. Now what doth this call for?
First, if God be a God of infinite understanding, then let not me bring a blind sacrifice to God, then let not me bring an ignorant heart to God; this is the excellency of an understanding creature to know the rule and end of its own actions. Now thou comest to worship an infinite God of infinite understanding, then know the rule of what you do, and know the end of what you do, and come with understanding into His presence.
Secondly, if He be so understanding, come with a free open heart, to open whatsoever is in thine heart to God. Take heed of keeping any secret resolutions in thine own heart, God knows thee, and can tell how to find thee out; God knows all that is in thine heart before; all the secret baseness that is in thine heart the Lord doth understand it.
The Lord's eye is a piercing eye, He sees through and through thy heart. It is a vain thing for thee to come and conceal anything before Him.
You will say, if God understand a man's heart, what need he come and confess?
Yes, He requires it as thy duty that thou shouldest come and open all before Him. In spite of thy heart, thou canst not cover anything from the Lord's eyes, but the Lord will see whether thou beest willing of thyself that He should understand all. God doth not require us to come and confess our sins that so He might know that which He knew not before, but for this end, that there might be a testimony, that thou art willing that He should know all that is in thy heart.
Therefore, now when thou comest to worship Him, ransack every corner of thy heart and confess all before the Lord, and give glory to His name, as that God that is an all-seeing God that knows all the windings and turnings of thy heart. Now meditate of these things that be presented to thee, and it will be a mighty means to help thee to sanctify His Name.
8 God is a God of infinite wisdom, therefore when we come to worship God, let us be ashamed of our folly. When thou comest to have to deal with God, look upon Him as a God of infinite wisdom and I say, be thou ashamed of thy folly then, and do thou exercise the grace of wisdom too, when thou comest to God; that is, by propounding right ends (of which we spoke before) that is one part of wisdom to have right ends, and right means towards those ends, so that the meditation of the wisdom of God when we come to worship
Him will further us to sanctify His Name.
And further, this is to sanctify God's wisdom when thou comest into God's presence, in thy greatest straights, deny thy own wisdom, come with a resolution to be guided by the wisdom of God in this manner,
"Lord, I know not how to order my steps, there is much folly and vanity in my heart, but Thou art a God of infinite wisdom, I come to Thee for direction, and I profess here, I am willing to give up my whole soul to be guided by Thy wisdom." If every time we come to worship God we came thus, Oh Lord, whatsoever our thoughts have been heretofore, yet if Thou shalt but reveal Thy mind to us, we will hearken to Thee, Lord, we believe that Thy wisdom it is Thyself, and therefore we profess to give up ourselves to Thy wisdom. Now this is to sanctify the Name of God.
9 Consider the holiness of God; God is a God infinitely pure from all sin, and therefore when we come to worship God, we must be ashamed of our unholiness, as the Prophet in Isa. 6, when he heard the seraphim's cry, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of Hosts," he falls down and saith, "Woe is me for I am undone, because I am a man of unclean lips." And is God a holy God? Then let me take heed when I come before Him, that I bring not with me a love to any sin for the Lord hates it and let me take heed that I do not cast dirt in the very face of God's holiness but give up my soul to be ruled wholly by Him.
And labor that there may be a suitableness between the holiness of thy heart and of the infinite God. Now this is to sanctify God's Name, when the consideration of this attribute of God hath such effect upon my heart, that I labor upon this to come with a suitable heart before God.
10 When thou comest before God, consider that thou comest to a merciful God. And what should this work?
First, it should make me come joyfully into His presence, as a God that is willing to do good to His poor creatures that are in misery.
Secondly, it should make me to come with a heart sensible of the need of this mercy; O Lord, I have had my heart let out to other vain things heretofore, but now Lord, Thy mercy it is that my soul comes for, as that wherein my chief and only good consists.
Thirdly, it should make me come with expectation of great things from God; do not come unto God as unto an empty vine, but as unto a full vine, and the more thy faith is raised to expect great things from God, the more acceptable art thou to God. Certainly, the higher anyone's faith is raised when they come into His presence to expect the greatest things, the more acceptable. It is otherwise with God than men, if you come to men to beg a little thing you may be welcome, but if you come to ask a great matter, they will look askew upon you. But the truth is, the greater the things are that we come to God for, the more welcome are we into God's presence, and those that are acquainted with God, they know it, and therefore they come the more fully. When they come to ask Jesus Christ Himself and His
Spirit that is more worth than ten thousand worlds, they come with more freedom of Spirit than when they come to ask their healths and the like.
Fourthly, it will be likewise another means of sanctifying this attribute of God when thou comest to Him if thou doest come with a merciful heart towards thy brethren. Take heed whensoever you come to worship God that you come not with a rugged and cruel heart towards any of your brethren; therefore you find that Christ lays this upon you in teaching how to pray; you must say, forgive us our trespasses as we forgive our brethren that trespass against us; and you find it repeated again, if you forgive, then your heavenly
Father will forgive, and not otherwise. As if Christ should say, when you come to beg mercy, be sure you bring merciful hearts.
Fifthly, it is a good way to sanctify the Name of God in this attribute, for the soul to be solicitous with itself. What is that that will hinder me from the mercy of God, and let me avoid it? It is otherwise, a taking of the name of God in vain, for me to come to profess what
need I have of God's mercy, and yet for all that, never regard to avoid those things that may hinder the work of His grace upon me.
11 Consider the justice of God (that is another attribute). Consider that thou hast to deal with an infinite, righteous, and just God. Do not think that if thou beest a believer, that thou hast nothing to do with the justice of God, for certainly thou art to sanctify the justice of God.
Now you will say, how should a believer sanctify the justice of God?
Thus.
First, he should be apprehensive and sensible how by sin he hath put himself under justice and deserved the stroke of justice to be upon him to eternity; he should consider what he is in himself. It is true that Jesus Christ hath come between a believing soul and the justice of the Father, and hath taken the stroke of justice upon Himself; yea but though He hath done it, it doth not hinder but that thou shouldest be apprehensive of what thou hast deserved thyself.
Secondly, here is a special thing in the sanctifying of the justice of God. When we come before Him, we should consider that we have to deal with an infinite, just God, and therefore not to dare to come but through a mediator. Here you have the reason why we must tender up all in the Name of Christ, because when we are to come before God, we are to sanctify the Name of His justice. For thee to think thus, I have sinned, and God is merciful, and I will go and pray to Him that He might be merciful, and there's an end. Is this all? Oh no,
God requires the sanctifying of His justice, and there is nothing that doth sanctify His justice so much as this, that when a poor creature sees the infinite distance that sin hath made between that infinite
God and it, it sees that through sin it hath made itself liable to justice; and when it sees that there is an absolute necessity that infinite justice must have satisfaction, and thinks the sinner, if it comes to me that I must satisfy the justice of God I am never able to do it, but there is a mediator, and therefore I'll fly to Him, and by
faith tender up to the Father all the merits of His Son as a full satisfaction to His infinite justice. When thou comest thus before the Lord, thou sanctify His Name indeed. Many think that when they come to pray, they should look upon God's grace, and mercy, and not upon His justice; but thou must look upon both.
Another attribute it is God's faithfulness. Consider thou hast to deal with a God of infinite truth and faithfulness, and therefore look upon Him as an object of thy faith to rest upon. And likewise, thou must bring a faithful heart suitable some way to this faithfulness of God, that is, a heart faithful with Him, to keep within the covenant that thou hast entered into and to perform all the vows that thou makest with God. Remember thou hast to deal with a faithful God, and as the Lord delights to manifest His righteousness to poor creatures that seek His face, so this God doth expect that thou should be faithful in all the covenants that thou doest make with Him, and this is to sanctify God's Name.
Now then, put all these attributes of God together and there you have His glory, the infiniteness of His glory. The shine and lustre of all the attributes together is God's glory. I have then to deal with a glorious
God and let me labor to perform such services as may have a spiritual glory upon them, that some image of the divine lustre that there is in God may be upon my services; and let me look for glorious things seeing I have to deal with such a glorious God.
You will say, here is a great deal of duty in serving of God, how much is here that we must do?
I appeal to any gracious heart, what canst thou want of any of these, or what wouldest thou want? Doest thou say, here's a great deal? Can there be too much to make thee happy? These things are not only thy duty, but thy happiness, glory and excellency consists in them. If anyone should bring you a great many jewels and pearls, would you say, here's a great deal ado? Oh no, the more the merrier. So say I, this one meditation would take off the thoughts of a great deal, for in
all these my happiness consists, and the more I have of these, the more shall I enjoy of God, the more happy shall I be both here and forever.
Now I had thought to have given you some reasons why the Name of God must be sanctified; only I beseech you, by all that hath been said go away with this thought, what little cause is there that any of us should rest upon any of our duties. If this be required of us thus to sanctify the Name of God in duty, I say we have little cause any of us to rest in any duties that we perform. There are many poor creatures that have no other saviors to rest upon but their prayers, and coming to church, and taking the communion. Now if in all these the Lord expects that thou shouldest thus sanctify His Name, thou hast little cause to rest upon anything that thou hast done; thou hast cause rather to go alone and mourn for taking the Name of God in vain in the duties of His worship. Rest not in any of your performances; labor to perform duties as well as you can, but when you have done, know that you are unprofitable servants after all, and renounce all as in the point of justification, and rest upon something else, otherwise you are undone forever.